Automobile-horn



M. F. FITZGERALD. AUTOMOBILE HORN.

APPLICATION FILED JULY I6. I920.

1,355,550. Patented Oct 12, 1920.

- yg m 32M, I mh UNITED STATES PATENT OFFICE.

vMLA'UIRICE F. FITZGERALD, OF WINSTED. CONNECTICUT, ASSIGNOR TO THEFITZ- GERALD MFG. CO., OF TCRRINGTON, CONNECTICUT, A CORPORATTON OF CON-NECTICUT.

AUTOMOBILE-(HORN.

Specification of Letters Patent. Patented O t. 12; 1920 Applicationfiled July 16, 1920. Serial No. 396,711. I 1

2"0 all whom it may concern: 7

Be it known that I, MAURICE F.w Frrz- GERALD, a citizen of the UnitedStates, residing at Winsted, in the county of Litchfield, State ofConnecticut, have invented certain new and useful Improvements inAutomobile-Horns, of which the following is a description, referencebeing had to the accompanying drawing and to the figures of referencemarked thereon.

This invention relates to automobile horns, and more particularly tomeans for'preventing the objectionable rattling of these horns when theautomobile is in motion.

In the common. types of the present day automobile horn, the vibrationsof the sound diaphragm are generally obtained by utilizing the inertiaof a rotatable wheel which contacts against the diaphragm. These wheelsare actuated by means of a hand reciprocated rack and pinion mechanism,

through the intermediary of a pawl and ratchet connection whichpositively drives.

the wheel forward, and at'the same time, permitting it to freelyover-run. In order to secure advantage of the inertia of the wheel, itmust be freely mounted on its supporting spindle, and as a result ofthis free mounting, there is nothing to prevent the wheel from producingthe rattling so objectionable to this type of device and to this end,the present invention is directed to provide means for preventing thisinertia wheel from rattling during the period when the horn is not beingsounded.

A' further object of this invention-is to provide means automaticallycontrolled by the wheel rotating means for holding the inertia wheelfrom rattling when it is idle.

Still another object of; this invention is to construct a horn of theabove character in which the means for rotating the inertia wheel alsoacts to hold the same against rattling movement when normally idle,together with automatic means for bringing the wheel holding means intoaction at the proper time.

These and other objects will in part be obvious, and will in part behereinafter more fully disclosed.

Referring more particularly to the accom panying drawings Figure 1 showsa side elevation, partly in section of the device;

Fig. 2 is a sectional view on the line 22 of Fig. 1 showing theanti-rattling mecha msin, and Fig. 3 is a sectional view on the line 3-3of Fig. 1. looking in the direction of the arrow. V

In general, the invention comprises a diaphragmvibratablez by means ofthe usual notched inertia wheel :driven from a rotatahis shaft, whichshaft in turn is provided with a pinion driven by a hand'operated rack.The inertiawheel is loosely mounted on the shaft and is rotatedtherefromby means of the usual pawl and ratchet connection so that the wheel canrun ahead of the rotating shaft. Means is provided for holding theinertia wheel rigidly from rattling during the inoperative period of theshaft operating means, and one manner of accomplishing this result issecured by splining the ratchet sleeve on the rotatable shaft whereby itmay move laterally into and out ofcontact with the inertia wheel, andthere is also provided automatic means for so 'moving this ratchetsleeve at the proper time. This function is preferably secured byscrewthreading that end of the rotatable shaft adjacent the surroundingratchet sleeve and mounting a nut'onsaid threaded portion, and providingmeans for holding said nut from rotation so that when the shaft isrotated, the nut'will automatically travel away from theratchet sleeve,thereby freeing the wheel and permitting it to be shown clearly in Fig.2, this inertia wheel is mounted loosely on the shaft 4, freely rotatingin bearings 5 and 6 located at .dia metrically opposite points in thehorn casing. In the present construction, to one end of the shaft 4 isfixed a surrounding sleeve '7 provided on its circumference with teeth 8to form a pinion, which teeth .8 mesh with suitably connected to theshaftl and to the 'surro mding casing for returning the plunger 104wnormaloutward position after it v the teeth 9 of a rack 10 reciprocablein a sleeve 11 arranged transversely to the shaft i and fixed suitablyin the walls of the horn casing. This sleeve 11 is suitably cut-away asat 12 to permit the teeth 8 and 9 of the rack and pinion to suitablymesh. In addition, there is provided the usual spring 13 has beeninwardly reciprocated by pressure on thehandle 1%. In order to drive theinertia wheel from the rotatable shaft 1, there 1 is providedia ratchetsleeve 15 surroundin said shaftt and this sleeve 15 is provide with theusual-ratchetteeth 16 engaging the usual springpressed 'pawls 17, sothat when the shaft rotates the ratchet sleeve, it will impeltheiinertia wheel, whichbecause of the pawl and ratchet construction,can run ahead of the shaft to produce the maximum vibrations. V v.

' In consequenceof the foregoing construc tion, this inertia wheel 3 isnecessarily loosely mounted on the rotating shaft 4, and due to thismounting, produces a distinct rattling noise due. to inherent lateralplay- One form of device for overcoming this objectionable rattling, andfor holding the in wheel '3.

ertia wheel positively from movement during the nonirotating period ofthe drivingshafts, is: provided by suitably splining the ratchet sleeve15- on the shaft 4, as by means of the a slot 18in thesleeve l5 and thepin 19 pass-.

ing. transversely through the shaft 4:. By means of this construction,the ratchet sleeve1 5 can be moved axially of the shaft l-into and outofclamping contact with the f Additional meansflis provided for automatically producing this axial movement of the-sleeve 15, and thepreferred'form comprises a nut '20 surrounding thatend of the shaft 4adjacentthe ratchetsleeve l5 and having threaded engagement withsuitable screw threadsQl formedgthereon. A yoke 22 shownoclearlyin Fig.1 is secured by 'means of the nut 23vto thehorn casing and this yoke'isprovidedfiwith spaced arms'24 embracing the nut '20 to hold the samefrom rotation. As'aresult of the above construetion,"when the plungerlO'is reciprocated downwardly, it .rotatesthe pinion 8, sleeve 7 andshaft 4 fixed thereto, which inturn,

by means'of 'the splined connections 18 and free movement of the inertiawheel 3. l/Vhen the plunger 10 has'resumed its normalidle position,shown in full lines in Fig. 2,the shaft 4 will be reversely rotated andthe nut 20 will consequently travel in- It is obvious that. a dev ce ofthe above character 1s not only automatic 1n its operation, so that theclamping of the inertia wheel from objectionable movement isaccomplished, during the non-operating period of the horn, but it isalso apparent thatthereare very few alterationsnecessary to provide thepresent type of horn into an anti-rattlingdevice.

Another advantage of the present construction resides in the fact thatthe ratchet sleeve which constitutes the means for driving the inertiaWheel isalso part of the means for. holding the inertia wheel againstrattling movement; 7 V

'It is obvious'that minor changes in the details of construction and thearran ement of the parts may be made, without eparting fromthe spirit ofthe invention as set forth in the appended claims.

Having; thus described the invention, what Ixclaimas new. and desire tosecure by Letters-Patent, is-" v g r 71.. A device of thecharacterdescribed comprising a diaphragm, a rotary actuator therefor, means torotate said actuator, means to prevent said actuator from rattling, saidmeans coming into operation whensaid actuator operating means isnorn-iallyidle. y I V 2. A device of the character described comprisinga, diaphragm, a rotatable shaft. means. to drive the same, an inertiawheel looselysmounted on said shaft, means to drive said wheel from saidshaft, and means to hold'said wheel from rattling during the idle;periodof said shaft driving means and to release: saidwheel forfreeoperationldun ing-aportion of, the working period of said shaftdriving means.

x3. A=device of the character described comprising a diaphragm,a'rotatable shaft, means to rotate said shaft, an inertia wheel mountedonsaid shaft, means to drive said wheel from said shaft, said meansbeing con structed and arranged to automatically hold said'wheel fromrattling during the idle pe riod of said shaft driving means. v

4. A device of the character described comprising a diaphragm, arotatableshaft,

means to rotate the same, an inertia wheel loose on said shaft but.-driven therefrom, and means automatically controlledby the shaftactuating means, and movable into contact with said wheeltoiprevent thesame from rattling v 5. A device of the character described comprising adiaphragm, a rotatable shaft, means to rotate the same, an inertia wheelloosely mounted on said shaft, means to drive said wheel from saidshaft, and means for automatically moving said wheel driving means intoand out of clamping contact With'said wheel during the idle andactuating periods respectively of said shaft actuating means.

6. A device of the character described comprising a diaphragm, arotatable shaft provided with a threaded portion, means to rotate saidshaft, an inertia wheel adapted to vibrate said diaphragm, a ratchetsleeve splined on said shaft and movable axially of said shaft into andout of contact with said inertia wheel, pawls connected to said Wheeland cooperating with said ratchet sleeve to drive said inertia wheelfrom said shaft, a nut engaging the threads of said shaft, and means forholding said nut from rotation.

7. A device of the character described comprising a diaphragm, a rotaryactuator therefor, means to rotate said'actuator, and means actuated bythe operation of the device to prevent said actuator from rattling.

In testimony whereof, I affix my signature.

MAURICE F. FITZGERALD.

